Episode 20, Part 1: Lapped by Larry the Cable Guy

The first whisper of a Spring wind gets my itchy foot going. It's April I'm mindful that around March or April, I'm usually out on jaunt.  This wasn't something I planned; but I have noticed that while I can take to the shoe pretty much anytime, I'm more compelled during transitional seasons.  

But I'm not the only one who's normal routines have been suspended, so I just want to thank you, especially now, for making this podcast a part of your outbreak survival strategy. 

And now: Lapped by Larry the Cable Guy, Part 1:

The coverage of the tent city that had grown in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Williston, North Dakota, caught my attention.  Not only because of... well... that it was a tent city, but the reason. Fracking had taken off in that corner of North Dakota, which had been an oil mining area since the first wildcat well on April 4th, 1951. Williston sits on the Williston Basin, which includes the Bakken Formation, an oil rich pocket that is still producing and, by conservative estimates, will for a while.  So it had been a boom town for a long time. But now there was fracking, and people were going up to Williston to get their piece of it... or at least, get paid getting a corporation their piece of it.

Now, much has been said of fracking and this episode isn't enough to cover all that; but let's assume for the telling that I see fracking as both the environmental catastrophe and the new American gold rush... which, if you've studied the Gold Rush or the history of coal mining in depth, you'd know that those two things are not ever really separate.   

But that wasn't the story I wanted to tell. What drew me in... and what I saw lacking in the coverage... was how the people working there were living. The tent city sprouted because the influx of people making a lot of money caused real estate prices to hit the moon... and what little available housing there was in Williston, which was still pretty much a small town with a single Main Street, one major a bank, two bars, and one strip club... as well as the usual number of churches, of course... had run out of affordable, available housing. As a matter of fact, the … again conservative... estimates I'd found in my initial research was that in 2013, the cost of real estate in Williston was roughly higher than the cost of real estate in Mid-town Manhattan.  

I wanted to tell that story. I wanted to know how people were creating life for themselves in the midst of this boomtown that exploded. It felt like one of Those Stories... a story that reflected the point where America was, at that precise moment. There are events that feel more distilled than others. And this story about so much money floating around but no way to live even if you're one of the ones making the money... that's an imbalance which can't last very long. That was an American tale, if ever I heard one.

I rode the Empire Builder out of Chicago, and along the way made a short stop in Rugby, North Dakota. Rugby is the geographic center of the North American continent, and it seemed important to stop there. Rugby is a small farm town. It was summer, and they had a town-wide music and ice cream social every Wednesday in the park. The downtown didn't have many bars, but there were a few store front casinos that reminded me of the ones I'd seen in Rapid City a year before, the ones that advertise that they cash social security checks.

Williston was busy when the westbound train pulled in. A lot of people got off the train with me. A few got one. There were buses and trucks to meet people. There was a definite difference between those returning for work and those coming to look for work. I'd read that a large number of people went there to work and send money home; not a good place to uproot a family and go to.  True, the old wagon trains were replaced by pick ups and tanker trucks; but it seemed like most everyone knew this boomtown north of the Badlands wasn't going to last.

I had managed to secure a place to stay; but that wasn't easy. And it wasn't cheap. And, it was clear on the opposite end of town, out the bypass. And Williston didn't have much in the way of public transport, except for taxis, and I didn't even want to guess at the mark up on that ride. So I took to my boots and walked it. 

A note about North Dakota in July. It's hotter than you might think if you're not experienced with that part of the country. It's all big sky country, wide and flat with nowhere to hide from anything – including the sun. It also took me longer to get there on foot than I planned – long enough, in fact that the motel called to verify that I was actually coming. Because if I wasn't, or if I hadn't answered the phone...and I don't always when I don't know the number … then I would have lost my spot. My spot was the last spot to be had for that night that didn't involve trying to sleep outside. 

So I was really glad I answered the phone... and that the battery still held a charge. 

The first strip club and bar I walked by out of the train station – almost directly across the street from the municipal building – both had signs posted that specifically banned bags, backpacks, and instrument cases. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to check on that one. Bag bans aren't anything new, but I hadn't before... or since... seen a ban on instrument cases. It just seemed... I don't know... uncivilized.  

The traffic was nonstop and the line just to get into the bank lobby created a medium-sized crowd on the sidewalk.  Even after I got out of the downtown strip, the amount of people never diminished. I walked by 5 other motels, and all of them had  “NO VACANCY” signs. But they all advertised bars with casino-style games. I got to my motel... the last motel right next to the Wal-Mart where the Tent City was, and found the proprietor to be relieved. 

“I had a guy on stand-by in case you didn't show,” he said. 

Thanks so much for listening to Episode 20, Part 1 of Record of a Well Worn Pair of Traveling Boots. Please be sure to show some love by subscribing to this podcast on ITunes, Spotify, or whatever pod catcher you use. Check out the past episodes and look for Episode 20, Part 2, in two weeks. 

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Thanks again for listening. May the road always rise to meet your feet.

Thanks again for listening. May the road always rise to meet your feet.